Blog by: Caroline Butler
Earlier this year, after a local resident read House Bill 6, it was revealed to Bourbon County landowners that a $320 million, 2,000-acre proposal to expand Bluegrass Station was introduced.[i] The issue with this proposal is that eminent domain is planned to consume hundreds of acres of land.[ii]
Photograph of the proposed Bluegrass Station airport and airpark, in Liam Niemeyer, Runway Project at Bluegrass Station loses key support after local outcry, Ky. Lantern (Feb. 27, 2024) https://kentuckylantern.com/2024/02/27/runway-project-at-bluegrass-station-loses-key-supporters-after-local-outcry/ [https://perma.cc/9F3A-3SXH].
Bluegrass station homes Lockheed Martin, an American global security and aerospace corporation.[iii] Currently, a heliport sits on the property.[iv] This project would expand the heliport to create a military airpark allowing for military flights, in addition to private plane access.[v] As of right now, the proposal involves a 2,000-acre expansion, however, future expansion could require up to 4,000 acres.[vi] The $320 million funding is anticipated to come from a public-private partnership, meaning funding responsibilities are shared between the government and a private entity.[vii] If passed by the Senate, investment is scheduled to occur within the next fiscal year, beginning July 1, 2024.[viii]
Since this project went public, hundreds of concerned citizens banded together in opposing the expansion.[ix] Additionally, citizens voiced their concerns with the lack of transparency and communication about the Airport Project.[x] Citizens of Bourbon County is a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization created to inform the public about the Bluegrass Station Airport project.[xi] Since its formation, several meetings and outreach efforts occurred, spreading awareness and opposing the expansion.[xii] Several citizens pointed out that there are other abandoned airports in the region that can be utilized. Their efforts paid off, for, on February, 24, 2024, Stephen Collins, the director of Bluegrass Station for Kentucky’s Department of Military Affairs, announced that the Bluegrass Station Airport project is now closed.[xiii] In Mr. Collins’ letter regarding the project, he points out that “the project does not meet one or more of the feasibility criteria to proceed” as required by Governor Beshear.[xiv]
Although the project is closed, it still remains in the state’s budget bill, House Bill 6.[xv] With this in mind, the Airport Project may be reintroduced in the future and citizens are encouraged to consider the issue of eminent domain. Pursuant to section 195 of the Kentucky Constitution, the Commonwealth secures its right of eminent domain.[xvi] The general definition of eminent domain is the right or power to take private property for public use.[xvii] If a property is taken for a public use, it is immaterial whether the power is to be exercised by a private or municipal corporation, or by the state.[xviii] The court in Craddock v. University of Louisville held that the legislature holds a constitutional right to vest in a corporation, the power of eminent domain, and the discretion to select the location of the land and property needed in furtherance of a project which serves the public good; if this discretion is exercised in good faith, it cannot be reviewed by the courts.[xix] Under the Kentucky Constitution, the use of public property for a private purpose is prohibited.[xx]
Bourbon County property owners were encouraged to impose conservation easements on the property in an effort to restrict takings by eminent domain. However, KRS 382.850(2) prohibits a conservation easement from operating to restrict any right or power of eminent domain and that such rights and powers shall be exercisable as if the conservation easement does not exist.[xxi]
If this project is reintroduced and passed, it is unlikely citizens would be able to fight eminent domain. If the Airport project does eventually go through, thousands of acres of farmland would be lost, and surrounding properties would likely lose value to noise and light pollution.[xxii] It is imperative that lawmakers keep citizens informed and the government continues to implement criteria a corporation must satisfy before another project of this size comes to fruition.
[i] Austin Horn & Beth Musgrave, Could Bourbon County landowners lose their property for a $320 million military project?, Lexington Herald Leader (Feb., 13, 2024) https://www.kentucky.com/news/state/kentucky/article285087122.html (last viewed Mar. 18, 2024) [https://perma.cc/GZ9G-VCV7].
[ii] Id.
[iii] About Us, Lockheed Martin, https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/who-we-are.html (last viewed Mar. 18, 2024).
[iv] Horn, supra note i.
[v] Id..
[vi] Id.
[vii] Id.
[viii] Id.
[ix] See Liam Niemeyer, Runway Project at Bluegrass Station loses key support after local outcry, Ky. Lantern (Feb. 27, 2024) https://kentuckylantern.com/2024/02/27/runway-project-at-bluegrass-station-loses-key-supporters-after-local-outcry/ [https://perma.cc/9F3A-3SXH].
[x] Id.
[xi] About Us, Citizens for Bourbon Cnty., https://citizensforbourboncounty.org/about-us (last viewed Mar. 18, 2024) [https://perma.cc/B8AW-4AV7].
[xii] About the Bluegrass Station Airport Project, Citizens for Bourbon Cnty. (Mar. 13, 2024), https://citizensforbourboncounty.org/bluegrass-station-airport [https://perma.cc/B35K-QY32 ].
[xiii] Austin Horn, Bluegrass Station eminent domain project ‘closed,’ director says, Lexington Herald Leader (Feb. 24, 2024) https://www.kentucky.com/news/local/article285887566.html (last viewed Mar. 18,2024) [https://perma.cc/S782-SY7H].
[xiv] Stephen D. Collins, Bluegrass Station Airport Project Closure Statement, Bluegrass Station Div. (Feb. 23, 2024), https://bgsairportproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/2024-02-23-09-48-1.pdf [https://perma.cc/KD76-NC5K].
[xv] Sabriel Metcalf, Bluegrass Station airport project raises concerns over eminent domain, Spectrum News (Feb. 27, 2024) https://spectrumnews1.com/ky/louisville/news/2024/02/27/bluegrass-station-airport-plan-ceases--community-says-they-are-still-concerned- (last viewd Mar. 18, 2024) [https://perma.cc/G4AZ-ZKMU].
[xvi] § 15:1. Nature of the right, 3 Ky. Prac. Real Estate Transactions § 15:1.
[xvii] Id.
[xviii] § 15:6. Delegation of power to condemn, 3 Ky. Prac. Real Estate Transactions § 15:6 (citing Baxter v. City of Louisville, 224 Ky. 604, 6 S.W.2d 1074 (1928)).
[xix] 303 S.W.2d 548 (Ky. 1957); § 15:6. Delegation of power to condemn, 3 Ky. Prac. Real Estate Transactions § 15:6.
[xx] § 15:7. Public use, 3 Ky. Prac. Real Estate Transactions § 15:7.
[xxi] Id.
[xxii] Randall Bell, The Impact of Airport Noise on Residential Real Estate, The Appraisal J. (July 2001), https://www.nqsc.org/downloads/REALESTATE.pdf [https://perma.cc/U8B7-9X8V].